Air-cleaner for internal-combustion engines



A R. LAMBERT.

Am CLLANER FOR INTERNAL cumsusnow ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 2,19X5].

Patented May 11, 1920.

ALVAN R. LAMBERT, 0F ANDERSON, INDIANA.

AIR-CLEANER FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1920.

Application filed December 2, 1919. Serial No. 341,946.

To all whom it may com-era Be it known that I, ALVAN R. LAMBERT, acitizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Anderson,county of Madison, and State of Indiana, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements-in Air-Cleaners for Intermil-Combus tion Engines, ofwhich the following is a full and clear specification.

The object of this invention is to remove the dust from the air that isinspirated into the carbureter of an internal combustion engine, tothereby insure an ample supply of clean air. Heretofore many cxpedicntshave been tried out and put into practice for accomplishing thispurpose, but so far as Iam aware they have either been de fective to thepoint of impracticability or have been of such nature as to demand moreattention on the part of the attendant than can be obtained in thegeneral run of cases. It is my object to provide a simple apparatus andmethod requiring no attention on the part of the attendant or operatorand which will not gather and collect the dust reparated from the airbut will thrm it t into the surrounding atmosphere. Obviously myinvention will have its highest utility in connection with gasolenetractors, in which machines the problem of obtaining a supply of cleanair is an exceedingly important as well as diflicult one.

In the drawing- .Figure 1 is a side elevation of an ap pliance embodyingone form of my inven tion' Figs. 2 and 3 are transverse sectional viewslooking in the direction of the arrows respectively applied to eachline.

In the. d awing annexed, a designates the intake pi p12 oi" thecarburetor of an internal combustion engine; I) a shaft arranged inalinement with. the center of the intake-end of the pipe andterl'ninating a short distance from said end. This shaft is adapted tobe rotated rapidly in any suitable manner, preferably by connection withone of the adjacent shafts of the engine.

Afiixed to the shaft b so as to rotate therewith is a fan-like deviceconsisting of an imperforate disk 0 aflixed to the shaft at a distancefrom its end, another disk aloosely surrounding the intake pipe a ashort distance from its intake end, and a series of blades 0 rigidlyconnecting the disks or heads 0 and (l and consisting of flat straightblades radially arranged with respect to the axis of the shaft and havintheir longitudinal edges lying ap roxlmately parallel therewith. Theselades are preferably equally spaced around the disks -d and their innerlongitudinal edges terminate short of a circle described by theinlet-end of the intake pipe, so as to thereby form a sort of cagesurrounding the intake pipe.

To brave. the head (7. I connect the same by means of bars 7 with a hubg fastened on the extreme inner end of the shaft b, these bars inclininginwardly and being arranged in spaced relation around the intake pipe.

In operation, the shaft b is driven rapidly from a suitable shaft of theengine to thus keep the body of air surrounding the intake pipe inwhirling motion. The rapidly rotating blades 0 not only whirl the airbody but also serve to strike and throw away from the intake-end anyparticles of dust that. would be entrained in the air that is inspiratedby the engine into the intake pipe. It will be understood that thisfanning appliance is rotated very rapidly and that in addition to thecleaning action exerted by impact on the dust particles there will be afurther force, namely, centrifugal force, tending to drive the artielesto the outer edge of the W'hir in}; mass of air. I have been unable todetermine from actual tests of this appa ratus whether or not the impactaction of the blades is of greater influence in cleaning the'air thanmerely centrifugal action, as it is impossible to devise any testingmethod which would determine which is the most important factor. I havefound, however, from actual tests that heavilydust-laden air isthoroughly cleaned of its dust by an apparatus built in accordance withmy drawings before it enters the intake, and I have further observedthat no appreciable rarefaction of the air at the center of therevolving body of air takes place, so that an ample supply of air atapproximately atmosp eric pressure is maintained at all times at thecenter of the fan appliance, where the intake air. is drawn from. Inactual tests, I have found that the engine prodnres pruetieally the samellnl'se power with my appliance in operation as it did without the aiplianee, thus show in; that the air Within [be fun is maintained atleast :1[ |)|'uXll|Hll l V at atnmspherir pressure. ln lll'ilt'hltl. Ihav slightly inclined the blades eulwardly -40 as tn inr'rease thetenden y ml the blades to throw the dust 'intwardly awa" from the fan,but I believe it to be essential that the blades shall not be inelinedtn the radial to any considerable extent, as that would, in my judgment,tend to rarely the air at the renter and thus materially ('ennteraet theinspirational function (it the engine.

It will be rmdu'stund that l mu net mnlined in the speeitie ennstrnltiunnl' appze time; lnrein shlm'n and dewiibed as the smile may be gr atlyvaried Wilhullt de]'1arl- H;- l'z in 5hr iril nl' {b irwwdhn: m deiiinin1h"ilillmnmwlnh'd l't'i-il it: pre

ferred embodiment having been speeilieally described, what is elaimed asnew is:

in r-(m'ibination with the intake of the carbureter "1 an internaleombustinn engine, a shaft terminating shurt (if said in take and havingmeans for driving it from the engine, an imperfnrah: disk fastened tosaid shaft at a distanee from the end thereof, anether disk having aventral hule into whieh the end of the intake pipe ml the earbureterextends brace bars rigidly connecting this latter disk with the end 01'the shaft, and a series of blades or paddles extending from one disk t0the other and arranged in a eireinnferential series, the innerlengitudinal edges of these blades terminating short 01 the center ofthe disks to thereby provide a free air-space at the renter ml the fanapplianee in line with the intake 91" the rarbnreter.

ln testinmny whereof l hereunto allix my sip-nut u re.

ALVAN R. LAMBERT

